blackhawkpat

Such a magical night. Drove in a snowstorm from Chicago, and it was well worth it. When that curtain went up, it was absolutely surreal. Couldn’t believe I was seeing them again live after all these years. It was also great to meet in person some of the people I had spoken to for many years on this website. Let’s do it again, boys!

So very sorry for your losses, Rhonda. My mom passed away 26 years ago, and I still think of her often. Prayers to you and yours.

Songbooks exist for the first three Raspberries albums and the first three Eric Carmen solo albums, plus the individual sheet music for “Overnight Sensation” is out there, but they’re not arranged by Eric. I remember several years ago there was talk that there was going to be a songbook put out with Eric’s blessing, but to my knowledge it never got released. Too bad, as I would love to own that.

Will always remember his magical 1970 World Series

Rhonda, I think the photo of Eric is from the Side 3 photo sessions, and the other three are taken from the Fresh era. I believe those three photos are in the song book.

So, as an avid baseball and hockey card collector, I can tell you that leaf metal is a brand-name for cards, and it is on the higher end of expenses. A box of these cards costs about $235!!! What this looks like to me is there is an actual Eric Carmen card up for auction, which would be cool to have, but if you read the sellers description to Kirk, there is no guarantee you will get the actual card even if you win the auction. These kind of things drive me crazy. They want you to bid, and if you were the highest bidder, and an Eric Carmen card falls in that slot, then you get it, but if it doesn’t, you get nothing and are out the money you have bid. (I think it’s interesting they are charging you a shipping charge upfront and you may not get anything shipped to you.) I did a little card research on this and Eric is in the Leaf Pop Century set for 2023. He is listed as card BSP 45. BSP stands for “back stage pass”, which is what they have named his series. Other people in that set include David Lee Roth, Elton John, the Eagles, etc. it looks to have about 53 cards in that set. So buyer beware that if you bid on this, you may not get anything even if you have the winning bid, but if you wanna throw away five bucks, let’s say, you may get something really cool that has Eric on a trading card. I will try to go to my local trading card shop sometime this week and see if they can give me any information on the way to just buy his card directly and report back.

Happy birthday, Eric. Thanks for all the great lasting music you’ve provided all of us and on a personal level, while the Beatles got me into rock ‘n’ roll, you were the one that made playing the piano cool to me and I will be forever grateful.

The bridge in “Let’s Pretend” when Eric and Wally sing together is literally one of the greatest live harmonies I’ve ever heard in my life. Spectacular!

I was playing with my band at a night club in the early 80s with a one week engagement and I happen to see a guy in the back that looked very familiar. I kept thinking to myself, this can’t be who I think it is . At our first break he approached me and asked me if I would be interested in playing keyboards for him the next week when he was playing there? Yes, it was Tiny Tim! I’ve got to tell you, one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life. Told me I only had to play on about five songs with him and he would provide the sheet music, no rehearsal, just do it! He told stories throughout the set. Obviously “tiptoe through the tulips” was one of them and the rest were songs from the 30s and 40s that I really wasn’t familiar with, but it all came out great, and like I said he was very shy but very cool. $50 a man was the going rate at that time and he gave me $100 per night, even though I told him I would do it for nothing. i’ve met a lot of jerk musicians in my life, but I can honestly say he was one of the nicest.

A True rock ‘n’ roll pioneer. She will be missed.

Sad news in the sports world today as baseball star Joe Pepitone passed away. Joe spent eight colorful years with the New York Yankees, four with the Chicago Cubs and a couple more with a few different teams at the end of his career. He was famous for his long hair and sideburns that would make Elvis proud that most people said was the first toupee in major-league baseball. Always a good guy with great wit and he will be missed! Joe was 82.

Three Beatles will be releasing material on record store day this year. John Lennon will have a special edition of “gimme some truth”, Ringo Starr will be re-releasing “stop and smell the roses” and Paul McCartney and wings will be releasing a special half speed master of “Red Rose Speedway”. I’ll be standing in line for that last one! Remember when “Pop Art” came out on vinyl a few years ago on record store day? Time to put out “live on the Sunset strip” on vinyl as a record store day release!!!!

Sad day in the baseball world as two time World Series champion Tim McCarver passes away. McCarver played for 21 seasons in the MLB and also was an announcer until retiring last year. All told, he spent 63 years in the game. McCarver was 81. Rest in peace Tim.

Yeah I feel it’s laughable that people compare them favorably to Raspberries. I once lost a friend on Facebook because after he said Big Star was much better, I asked him if their greatest hits were on a 45?

I saw Madonna on her very first tour and I thought she was strikingly gorgeous. Not a fan of the direction she has chosen to take her looks to, especially the eyebrow thing, but the interesting thing about her musically was always that she tried to go in very different directions. You could never accuse her of copying her last hit to have another. Seeing her in the “Like a Prayer” video? Oh my! Me definitely likey!

So very sad to hear the passing of Burt Bacharach one of the greatest songwriters of all time. Made such an impact on me since I was a youth and will truly be missed. Burt was 94.

Depending who you believe, Quincy Jones has either backpedaled or denied saying that stuff about Paul and Ringo.

Have loved her voice from the first time I heard it. She seemingly gets better every year!

Really terrific interview. Very enjoyable and entertaining. Wish all the boys would do more podcasts and interviews. I think it would help in our attempt to get them in the Hall of Fame getting their names back out there.

For LC!!!!!

Wow, you must’ve been in the room to make such an incriminating statement about a man on the day he passed away . Fact: He had a domestic incident with his wife in 1986 when neighbors heard them “shouting” and called the police. When the police arrived and found out he was a famous athlete, they kicked the door in. Two officers tried to grab Hull and he decked one of them, thus an assault charge was filed against him, not by his wife, but by the police officer. Hull pleaded guilty to assaulting the policeman even though it was self-defense and only served the one night in jail when they brought him in. His wife chose not to file anything against him. These are all court records. Fact: Just like controversial celebrities from Donald Trump to Oliver Stone, Kanye West to Hank Williams Jr, anytime the name Adolf Hitler comes up, you are asking for trouble and usually your quote gets taken out of context. All of those people mentioned above have allegedly said positive things about Hitler and then claim they were misquoted. Bobby Hull gave an interview with the Moscow times in 1998 and allegedly said “Hitler had some good ideas but he went too far.” The interview was not recorded and it was only translated from Russian to English. Bobby claims he never said those things and was going to sue the newspaper for tarnishing his image but never followed up. People jumped on this claiming he was racist and a nazi for saying that, ignoring the fact that it was a Russian reporter translating the quote during a time when there were some heated battles on the ice between the Russians and Canada, who Hull was representing. The Blackhawks recently gave in to the woke mob who found out about the stories years later and demanded he be removed from the team as an ambassador. When the Blackhawks needed him they called on him to represent the team at hundreds of functions over the past 12 years but as soon as the millennial woke fans who don’t even attend the games demanded him “canceled”, the team cowardly removed him from his role. i’ve heard all the speculation, but that’s all it is ….speculation, all I know is I met him several times and he was always fantastic in the way he treated me and or my daughters, so I choose to remember him that way and also as the most dynamic left wing in the history of the National Hockey League. maybe this belongs in cartoon world, but it’s unfair to come on and make a blanket statement of calling him a wife beater and a racist and then back off and say oh forget it let’s just remember him as a hockey player. So people who are unaware of who he is see things like that and believe it. His grandson just came out yesterday angry at how many people are just throwing these accusations out there without basis, just trying to tarnish the reputation of one of the greatest athletes of our time. Hull spent countless hours signing autographs for children and doing charity events promoting the game of hockey. In fact, the last time I met him he was at a benefit for a 12 year old child (I am friends with the parents) Who was killed by a drunk driver and the hockey community put on a benefit to raise money for the funeral. Hull donated his fee to the cause. That’s the guy I will remember, but it’s not hip to tell stories like that in the cancel culture we live in now.

Very sad. One of hockey’s all time greats. Met him several times and still have an autographed pennant from him he handed me when I was a child. RIP Bobby #9

Harmonies are fantastic in this Kirshner version.

I’ll try to mix it up a little bringing it up, bringing it down, etc. also taking into account him switching between piano and guitar. 1.Sunrise 2. Never Gonna Fall In Love Again 3. I Wanna Be With You 4. Tonight 5. Let’s Pretend 6. It Hurts Too Much 7. Love Is All That Matters 8. The Way We Used To Be 9. Hungry Eyes 10. Hey Deanie 11. If You Change Your Mind 12. She Did It Intermission…. 1. Boats Against The Current 2. Starting Over 3. Overnight Sensation 4. Make Me Lose Control 5. All By Myself 6. Someday 7. My Girl 8. Play On 9. Ecstasy 10. That’s Rock n Roll Encores 1. Be My Baby 2. Twist and Shout 3. Go All The Way

Wow, I had heard she had a heart attack but thought she was doing well. Just saw her at the Golden Globes Tuesday night sitting at Austin Butler’s table along with her mom Priscilla. Butler starred in the recent movie about Elvis. So very sad. Hopefully Elvis is singing to her as we speak. RIP Lisa Marie.